Driving for a cause / Annual tournament raises money for American Cancer Society

Doug HaidetPublished: June 29, 2006 12:00AM

By DOUG HAIDET
T-G Sports Writer
Raised tempers were no match for raised money at Brookside Golf Course Wednesday afternoon, as the links were the site for the American Cancer Society Golf Championship for the 15th straight year.
A slew of area sponsors once again helped put together the fund-raising outing, which, after pulling together another $12,200 Wednesday, has now contributed over $200,000 to the American Cancer Society in an effort to aid in research for the disease.
And though there may have been some anger-inducing missed putts and sliced drives throughout the day, the cause was anything but overlooked.
Weve always had so many great sponsors and individuals who have supported this, said Rob Ward, chairman of the event, which began after the passing of his father, Robert G. Ward, in December of 1991 due to cancer. It took a couple years to build it up some, but its been pretty consistent since then.
So many people are touched by cancer, and every year people come to this outing they talk about people close to them who have had to deal with it.
Ward and his family were personally touched by the proceedings and efforts of the American Cancer Society while his father was still alive, and the event has been a constant for plenty of others who want to help year-in and year-out.
Before my father died, they did experimental research with him, and that gave him another five years to live, Ward said. Weve come so far with treatments and things like this help so much. There are a lot of teams with guys that arent real golfers that play just because they want to do something in honor of people they know.
The teams that did fare well at Brookside Wednesday came away with more than bragging rights, as the top mens quartets from three different divisions and the best womens foursome were each granted the chance to represent Ashland County at the 2006 Ohio Division State Golf Championship at Firestone County Club in Akron, Ohio.
The afternoons top overall score, an 18-under 53, came from the A & J Home Improvement team in mens Division I play.
Ashland resident Alan Bean was one-fourth of that group, which carded a front-nine low of 25 and tied with three others on the back-nine (28), and he said it was nice to finally finish at the top of the list.
Its always fun here, even though Ive gotten a lot of second places, Bean said, smiling. Weve been coming the last couple years and Ward Real Estate puts on a very good outing. Its very well organized and its good to see a lot of businesses in Ashland support the American Cancer Society and the community.
Ward added, Most of the teams that are playing in this have been doing it for years. Its always been in that 20-to-25 teams range. But there are just so many golf outings now that you dont want to put pressure on too many people.
Other mens teams winning the chance to play at Firestone September 9 and 10 were the Division II Winslow team, which won a scorecard playoff after totaling an 11-under 60, and the Division III Ashland University team (63). For the women, the Bailey team will play in Akron September 16 and 17 after turning in a top score of 63. A full list of team results can be found on page B2.
Outside of a smattering of storms in the middle of the afternoon, the tournament went very smooth, and Ward said he couldnt have been happier after another year of charitable camaraderie.
The rain slowed us down for about 20 minutes when some thunder and lightning came through, but it never really poured on us, he said. It turned out to be a beautiful day.
n Contact Doug Haidet, sports writer, at 419-281-0581, ext. 245, or dhaidet@times-gazette.com.